Rodrigo Lara

Rodrigo Lara Bonilla (11 August 1946-30 April 1984) was the Minister of Justice of Colombia from 7 August 1983 to 30 April 1984, succeeding Bernardo Gaitan Mahecha and preceding Enrique Parejo Gonzalez. Lara was incorruptible, and he fought against the drug cartels until his assassination by Pablo Escobar's Medellin Cartel in 1984.

Biography
Rodrigo Lara Bonilla was born on 11 August 1946 in Neiva, Colombia. Lara was a supporter of New Liberalism, and he was elected Mayor of Neiva at the young age of 23. In August 1983, President Belisario Betancur had Lara appointed the new Minister of Justice, and Lara and fellow liberal leader Luis Carlos Galan both publicly denounced the drug cartels of the country. Lara was an enemy of Medellin Cartel leader and aspiring politician Pablo Escobar, an infamous cartel boss; Lara exposed his influence in sports and politics through corruption. After Escobar failed in his attempt to accuse Lara of working with other drug cartels, Escobar was banned from congress and his United States visa was cancelled, so Escobar decided to have his revenge. On 30 April 1984, Lara was gunned down in his car by a Medellin assassin riding on a motorbike, and the Betancur government began to wage a war on crime as a result of Lara's death.